Russian T-50 stealth fighters 2017
A dozen Russian T-50 stealth fighters to go into service 2017
Russia’s Sukhoi T-50 fifth generation prototype fighter jets will enter into service with the Russian Armed Force in 2017, Russian Air and Space Forces Commander Col. Gen. Viktor Bondarev told reporters Saturday.
The T-50 is currently undergoing flight tests that have so far been
successful, Bondarev said. Previous reports stated that the aircraft
would enter into service in 2016.
“Under the program, we will finish testing next year and will begin to receive the T-50 jets in 2017," Bondarev said.
According to Bondarev, the aircraft fully meets the requirements.
The T-50 prototype aircraft is designed by the Russian Sukhoi aircraft
manufacturer for the PAK FA, a fifth-generation fighter program of the
Russian Air Force.
The fighter jet is expected to become the first operational stealth
aircraft for the Russian Air Force and will incorporate advanced
avionics and all-digital flight systems.
The aircraft is a stealthy, single-seat, twin-engine jet fighter, and will be the first operational aircraft in Russian
service to use stealth technology. It is a multirole fighter designed
for the air superiority and attack roles. The fighter is planned to have
supercruise, stealth, supermaneuverability, and advanced avionics to
overcome the prior generation of fighter aircraft as well as ground and
maritime defences. The PAK FA is intended to be the successor to the
MiG-29 and Su-27 in the Russian Air Force and serve as the basis for the
Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) being co-developed by Sukhoi
and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force. The
T-50 prototype first flew on 29 January 2010 and the first production
aircraft is slated for delivery to the Russian Air Force starting in
late 2016 or early 2017. The prototypes and initial production batch
will be delivered with a highly upgraded variant of the AL-31F used by
the Su-27 family as interim engines while a new clean-sheet design
powerplant is currently under development.
The Russian Air Force is expected to procure more than 150 PAK FA
aircraft, the first of which is slated to be delivered in 2016. India
plans on acquiring modified PAK FA as a part of its Fifth Generation
Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) program. It originally planned on buying 166
single-seat and 44 two-seat variants, but this has been reduced to
130-145 single-seat aircraft and the requirement for 45-50 twin-seat
fighters has been dropped by 2014. The Russian Defence Ministry plan on
purchasing the first 10 evaluation example aircraft after 2012 and then
60 production standard aircraft after 2016.
In December 2014, the Russian Air Force planned to receive 55 fighters
by 2020. But Yuri Borisov, Russia's deputy minister of defence for
armaments stated in March 2015 that the Air Force will slow PAK FA
production and reduce its initial order to 12 jets due to the nation's
deteriorating economy. Due to the aircraft's complexity and rising
costs, the Russian Air Force will retain large fleets of
fourth-generation Sukhoi Su-27 and Su-35S
